Cotton-tie buckle.



No; 717,856. PATENTBD JAN. 6, 1903.

P; L. HOWLETT.

COTTON TIE BUCKLE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

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ATENT FFICE.

PAYTON L. HOWLETT, OF GIDDINGS, TEXAS.

COTTON-TIE BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 717,856, dated January 6, 1903. Application filed May 27, 1902. Serial No. 109,183. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern Be it known that I, PAY'ToN L. HQWLETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Giddings, in the county of Lee and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cotton-Tie Buckles, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in buckles for cotton-bale ties, which will be hereinafter fully described and the actual scope of which will be defined by the claims.

The common styles of bale-ties now on the market are open to objection for one or two reasons from a practical standpoint, the most serious of which is that the looped and short end of the tie is liable to slip orwork loose, while the other objection is that the tie must be threaded through the slot or eye of the buckle. It is my object to overcome these objections by the provision of a simple, strong, and cheap buckle in which the band or tie can easily he slipped or fitted'and which will hold the tie so securely that it cannot become displaced and detached from the buckle.

Reference is to be had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is an elevation looking. at the front side of the improved buckle and showing the end portions of the tie or band attached to the buckle. Fig. 2 is a transverse section in the plane of the dotted line 2 2 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 3 is an elevation showing the rear of the buckle and the end portions of the tie attached thereto, and Fig. 4 is an elevation of a portion of a bale and a series of ties fastened by a corresponding number of buckles.

A designates the buckle, which is provided with a slot or eye B. This eye is of the general rectangular form shown by Figs. 1 and 3, and it is provided centrally in the buckle, one end of said eye terminating a suitable distance away from one end edge of the buckle A. The other end of the eye opens into a throat C, the edges 0 of which are curved on converging lines inwardly from the end edge of the buckle toward the slot or eye B. The inner terminal of the throat O is of less width than the slot B, and the shoulders d are there- 'heavy sheet or plate of metal, and the locking-arms E E are formed by cutting the slits e in the plate, the line of the incision or slitting extending parallel to the side edges of the elongated eye B, as shown more clearly by Figs. 1 and 3. The slits or incisions e terminate in the plate of the buckle about on the line of the inner closed edge of the slot or eye B; but the other ends of the slits extend through that edge of the buckle-plate through which the throat C is adapted to open. The locking-arn1s E E are thus made .an integral part of the buckle-plate, and said arms are separated from the plate by extremely narrow intervening slits e,thus bringing the lockiligarms in very close relation to the eye of the buckle.

Furthermore, the locking-arms E are bent or deflected laterally from the plane of the buckle-plate, and this lateral deflection is in a direction inwardly with respect to that face or side of the buckleplate which is intended to be applied against the outside of the bale. This inward deflection or inclination of the locking-arms enables the folded end or ends of the cotton-tie to be readily introduced through the slits e and around the arm or arms, as shown by Fig. 2.

o I am aware that the buckle may be provided with a single locking-arm disposed on one side of the eye or slot, and in this event it is desirable tohave one end of the band or tie attached in a suitable Way to the buckle, the other end of said band or tie being free or unconfined, so that it may be easily passed around the bale and connected to the eye or slot and disposed in" interlocking relation with the locking-arm E. I am also aware that the salient feature of the invention, which consists in one or more locking-arms disposed contiguous to the eye or slot and occupying a lateral deflected relation to the inner face of the buckle-plate or frame, maybe embodied in various other construction or styles of bale-tie buckles; but as this salient feature of the invention may be embodied in many different kinds of buckles I have not considered it necessary to illustrate a variety of the common styles of buckles now on the market In using my invention the tie or band is passed in any usual way around the bale, and the buckle A is fitted against one side of the bale, so that the locking-arms will extend inwardly toward said bale. The end portions of the tie or band F are looped, as indicated atfin Fig. 2, and these looped ends are slipped edgewise through the throat C and into the eye or slot 13. This operation of slipping the loops of the tie edgewise into the slot or eye of the buckle-plate requires that the outer length of the loop shall he slipped through the incisions or slits 6, thus bringing the outer part of the loopsf beneath the locking-arms E and in lateral contact with the major portion of the tie or band. The loops of the tie fit snugly around and to the abrupt angles formed by the slot and incisions of the plate, and by the employment of the locking-arms E the end portions of the loopsf are caused to engage with the buckle and the arms, so as to elfectually prevent any tendency of the tie to become detached from the buckle.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A cotton-bale tie comprising a slitted plate having an eye or slot which communicates with a tapering throat in one edge of said plate, said slit in'the plate forming a locking-arm which is disposed in close relation to the eye or slot, and said arm being-defiected laterally with relation to the plane of said plate, the slit between the arm and the plate being only wide enough for a tie or band to pass therethrough.

2. A cotton-bale tie comprising a slitted plate having an eye or slot, said slits being located on opposite sides of the slot and parallel to the axis thereof, said slits forming locking-arms which are separated from the plate only by the narrow slits, and said arms being deflected laterally to the plane of the plate;'said slot communicating with a taperering throat, the edges 0 of which converge inwardly relative to the edges of the slot and form therewith the abrupt shoulders d.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

PAYTON L. HOWLETT.

Witnesses:

A. L. DAVIS, R. W. HARRIS. 

